Twenty-Five Shades to Shape Up Your Weight Loss-Part One

Summertime is here and the living should now be easy. That includes your weight loss plan. Here are the first twenty-five of my best suggestions to help you accomplish your weight loss goals.

1. Get a checkup: Assess how healthy you are. Know your numbers. Don’t ignore any medical issues. Make a plan to lower that cholesterol or lose 10% of your weight in the next 6 months or take care of your teeth if you haven’t seen your dentist in a year.

2. Fill up on fluids: When the heat is on nothing tastes better than an icy cold beverage. This is the time of year for smoothies, slushes and refrigerators filled with pitchers of mint, lemons, limes, apple slices, melon slivers, and cucumbers.

3. Use your muscles with your mind: Be smart about activity. Being outdoors is such a mind boosting experience. If you can take your workout outdoors please do so. Getting 15-20 minutes of sunlight will give your body a boost of vitamin D. And please breathe!

4. Get your 8 hours in: Staying active mentally and physically all day will ensure a restful night sleep. Summerize your bedroom. Bedding that is lightweight, light colored, and lavender scented, music of ocean waves, and a comfortably cool air temperature all add to the enjoyment of a good night sleep.

5. Get creative: There are so many foods to grill. Expand your palate try grilled pineapples over toasted angel food cake, or grilled parsnips, tomatoes, and mushrooms on thin crust pizza topped with feta cheese, and basil.

6. Grow an herb garden: Chives, basil, cilantro, dill, mint and rosemary are excellent flavoring to add for breakfast burritos, salads, salsas and dips, vegetables, fish, seafood and poultry, fruit ice desserts and summertime beverages.

7. Smell those roses: Find a botanical garden and take a stroll. Listen to the birds; take a picture of a garden you enjoy looking at. This can be an easy way to lower your blood pressure and relieve some stress.

8. Write yourself a letter: Where do you want to be a year from now? Are you working and happy at your job? Are you lacking computer skills? Is there a trip in your future? Do you have a bucket list? Why not?

9. Dance the night away: All you need is music. You don’t even need a partner! Dancing is a form of exercise and has the additional benefit of taking your mind off any problems you might have in your personal life.

10. Volunteer: Do you have expertise or a hobby that you can share with others? Volunteers always get back so much more in rewards than they are giving. Our world can be a lonely place for a senior without family or an orphaned child or stray animal destined for death.

11. Get emotional: We often reserve our feelings for the sake of appearances. It is a fact that repressed emotions are a greater risk to our health. So let your feelings out. Wrap your arms around those loved ones; tell them they are important to you; remember birthdays and celebrate! Surprise someone with an unexpected gesture.

12. Start the day: Breakfast makes the rest of the day easier on your appetite. On the move either pack something the night before (English muffin, peanut butter and banana) or throw a shake together with coffee, cocoa, yogurt, ground flax cinnamon, fruit of choice, nuts, and ice. Add protein powder for additional staying power.

13. Make a date with yourself: Send an email, set an alarm on your watch to get up and move every hour even for 5 minutes. There are many free apps available.

14. Eat internationally: Each day create Asian-(stir fry), Mexican-(fajita), and Greek-lamb kebab), French, Italian-(cappuccino), Californian-(avocado salad), and Dominican-lentil stew), South American-(flatiron steak), Northeastern-(clam chowder), Southern-(collards), Tex-Mex-(chili). You never have to be bored.

15. Never be hungry again: The secret weapon is to eat every 4 hours. Have healthy snacks readily available in your car, gym-bag, on the job, in the freezer and pantry.

16. Lose the “disease to please”: Be aware that practicing to say no is a positive behavior. No guilt attached. For the sake of your health and your planned schedule you might need to excuse yourself from volunteering to take over someone else’s responsibility.

17. Strategize your kitchen: Check everywhere your eye will go. Place healthy products within your view. Please remove all foods and beverages that are not on your planned menu.

18. Measure your waist: Women 35″ and men 40″ are the numbers for you to not exceed. Abdominal fat is associated with increased disease risk.

19. Fill up your plates: That is a 9 inch one. When your plate is filled your perceived satisfaction increases. So trade in those large plates for smaller ones and beware when eating outside of your home.

20. Count your paces: Get a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps a day. Sounds like a lot but the average woman walks 4900 steps a day without trying.

21. Know your family history: It might save your life. Talk to your relatives and share family medical history.

22. Brew a nightcap: Chamomile tea if left to steep all day might turn into a natural sleeping aid for you.

23. Om: Meditation has been around for centuries. It has been credited for lowering blood pressure and having positive stress busting effects so give it a try before saying nay. There are yoga classes, tapes, and books available.

24. Challenge your mind: Take a class, read a book, memorize a poem or do a crossword puzzle. Scientific studies show challenging your brain will help improve memory. It also will take your mind in other areas away from thinking about problems or hunger.

25. Say please to cheese: The calcium and appetite soothing benefits that cheese has goes a long way with satisfying the appetite. Cheese is versatile and healthy in small portions.

These practices are recommended by patients who have succeeded in losing weight, increasing their fitness levels and saying good bye to medications for high cholesterol, blood pressure, and high blood glucose or blood fat levels. I will be publishing my next twenty-five shades to shape up your weight loss.

WHAT IS A DASH DIET?

DASH stands for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension. DASH diet has been clinically proven to reduce blood pressure within 2 weeks in individuals following the diet. It is not only known to help manage the blood pressure but is also designed for weight loss programs, helps to prevent heart diseases, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer.

Who should follow a DASH eating plan?

In fact, a DASH eating plan can be a part of any healthy eating plan. Not only, will it help lower blood pressure but it will offer additional heart health benefits including lowering LDL cholesterol and inflammation.

How does the DASH eating plan work?

The diet consists of foods that are low in sodium and consists of a variety of foods that are rich in nutrients like potassium, calcium and magnesium are known to help lower blood pressure. The diet is rich in fibre that again helps to lower blood pressure and knock off the extra pounds which will in-turn assist in lowering blood pressure.

What should you eat on a DASH eating plan?

Grains like whole wheat, brown rice, barley, oats, quinoa are packed with nutrients like proteins, B vitamins and trace minerals, fibre and antioxidants which has been shown to reduce the risk of several diseases. However, processed grains lack most nutrients and should be avoided.
Include fat-free or low-fat milk, yoghurt, Greek yoghurt, paneer in your diet instead of full-fat options. For those who are lactose intolerant, lactose-free milk and milk products are an option.
Nuts like almonds, walnuts, pistachios, etc, beans, dals and seeds like the sunflower seeds, melon seeds, etc are a part of a healthy eating DASH diet. They are rich in dietary fibre protein, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals like zinc and magnesium, etc. Although nuts contain the healthy fats, it would be wise to eat them in restricted amounts as they are high in calories. Also, avoid salted or honey roasted nuts for their high sodium and sugar content.
Lean meat, egg, poultry and fish in moderation rather than meats with high saturated fat content. Processed meats such as bacon, ham, sausages, salami, etc contain a significant amount of sodium, hence restrict the intake. Occasional intake of red meat is permitted.
Fruits and vegetables are naturally rich in potassium which plays an important role in lowering blood pressure. If you are one who is not fond of fruits and vegetables make the change gradually. Add an extra fruit or vegetable in the day in addition to what you are currently having a start. Prefer a whole fruit to juices. Unsweetened dried fruits like raisins, cranberries, dried figs, etc. are good travel choices. Make sure there is a vegetable at each meal.
The diet should be low in saturated fats and total fats. A diet high in saturated fats increases the risk of heart disease and hypertension. Fats are important for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and help in building the body’s immune system. Use of oils like olive oil, rice bran oil, mustard oil should be promoted in each meal and trans fats which are commonly found in processed and fried food should be avoided.
To make this diet work even better here are some additional tips:-

Reducing alcohol intake may help reduce blood pressure. Hence, keep the alcohol intake under check.
Aerobic exercise along with DASH diet works faster in lowering blood pressure.
Read food labels to choose products that are lower in sodium.
Stress can raise blood pressure even if the diet is healthy. Hence, stress management techniques like meditation, yoga, etc will help keep the blood pressure under check.
Poor sleep increases blood pressure. So, 7-8 hours of sound sleep will help in keeping the blood pressure in control.
If you are someone who smokes, then quitting it would help lower blood pressure.
Take your medication as prescribed.
Limit the salt intake to 1 teaspoon a day.
Making a lifestyle change is an effort. It is a long-term commitment which one has to make for good health. Making smaller changes will bring in faster results than making dramatic changes all at once and losing the commitment along the way. Before getting on to the DASH diet consult a nutritionist who can help you in chalking out an individual program for yourself. Café Nutrition with their weight loss centers can help you not only with the DASH diet but also weight loss in Mumbai.

Conquering Your Weight Loss Diet Challenges

Do the excess pounds you carry seem to have a way of sticking around no matter what you have done so far? If so, then of course, you are facing a formidable set of fat loss obstacles. Yet, now, perhaps it is time for you to find a way of conquering your weight loss challenges.Challenge number one is the food we eat. And there are others, like the slow to moderate or almost completely sedentary lifestyle that we have acquired, primarily due to planning things around a routine job schedule.Yet, deep inside you know that, with the unwholesome way in which our current society generally operates, you must uncover the true source of your fat loss obstacles in order to clear the road for body fat triumph.Perhaps, today you can discover how to conquer existing weight loss diet challenges and make your fat loss life much easier, more enjoyable, plus receive far more productive results.If you seek to enjoy fat loss status and keep it for an ongoing time-frame, then boosting your weight loss discernment or wisdom becomes paramount. On-shelf media, bookstores, online search details, plus a myriad of other popular fat loss data sources may all too easily give you lots of slightly off-based informational alternatives from which to choose, supposedly to help you surmount weight loss diet challenge. However, recognizing and weeding out the bad from the good, more than ever, becomes crucially necessary.Do not be surprised about why you are weight loss goals achievement difficulty. Getting rid of unwanted weight is still a highly complex. Yet, when you use the simple approach to conquering your weight loss diet challenges, you may easily see that it actually comes down to a matter of ingesting, not food, but information.Thus, it is your MIND that deserves attention and focus, even more than your physical body. Why does this serve as such a well-founded and solid fat loss fact from which you can benefit? Well, this is a powerfully true statement because expanding your intellectual horizon can dynamically boost your body fat control – human anatomy is highly complex machinery. You have to master the controls, and practice working them. And, you must do this in your everyday world, not just by reading about it.So, this is where real world weight loss diet challenge number one comes your way. For example, who wants to READ body fat books? More importantly, who has time these days? Especially if you live in America, your space is likely almost completely filled up already with duties, chores, tasks, meetings, business and other things you have to do. Then, as each fat loss opportunity eludes you, it is the body that lets you know something is amiss in your weight loss diet dealings. More pounds trickle in, who knows from where they come. Yet, excess body fat becomes amazingly adept at creeping up on you.All that said, there is one more big reason why you cannot lose weight happily – and this one bears the greatest significance. For losing unwanted weight, it truly is what you know that can make or break your consistency. Right now, you can bet there is something you surely overlook about taking off unwanted weight. That is, not every approach works successfully. People are individuals, virtually different, often uniquely compatible with, or greatly non-reactive to specific approaches, methods, and plans. In other words, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to losing body fat or to conquering your real world weight loss diet challenges.

Motivation plus you equals weight loss

We all need motivation to make changes in our lives. But some motivations can have short-term effects whilst other motivations can have long-lasting, life changing effects. This article takes a very quick look at how we can cut to the core of making the long-lasting, life changing decisions easier.

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Why do you want to lose weight? Do you want to make someone else happy? Your kids, your husband? The only way to lose weight in the long-term is to lose weight for you.

While some or most of this article might sound like pointless new-age psycho-babble, at its core are valid, solid ways of changing your life. Do not give in, it may well be a life changing experience.

Whilst these are all valid reasons for losing weight they may actually be the reasons why so many people fail to lose weight or lose weight but then put it all back on with a little extra just for desert. In order to understand long term weight loss we need to look at the nitty-gritty at how the mind works and how we become, and remain motivated, to do something.

When we want to change something about ourselves we need to look deep. Not just “Because the doc said I need to lose a few pounds” deep or “I want to look nice when I lie by the pool” deep. We need to look at where we are now, where we want to be and the difference between the two. That is where the deepness lies.

Ok, let’s take any weight measurements out of the equation and look at body size and shape. We might imagine ourselves to look a long way from the way we want to look. But how does that make us feel? Pretty miserable right. But that’s where your change begins – connect with the feelings caused by the difference between the two you’s. The discrepancy between the you now and the person you want to be is the reality and sometimes the reality hurts! The difference between where we are and where we need to get to needs to be bridged.

You need to imagine what it would feel like to be the person you want to be. Stop for a second and think about it. Close your eyes. Really think about it. Think about the person you want to change for. Because this is only a short article I will give you the answer you need to come up with.

The only person you want to change for is you. There are just so many reasons you could have come up with for changing. Kids, husbands, wives, parents, friends, pets, teams – the list is endless.

The only person you need to change for is you. If this sounds too selfish and self-centred for you then I’m sorry. However, the chance of you changing long-term for anybody other than yourself are minimal. If you think about it another way, what would make the person you are changing for happy? Would they be happier to see YOU happy or would they be happier watching you trying to make THEM happy? So if we want to change we have to look at ourselves and see ourselves as we really are. We need to look to the person we want to be. From then on the person you want to be is going to be the person you are.

If you want to lose weight you need to do it for yourself, no-one else. Not only do you get to be the person you want to be but everybody else gets the benefit of basking in the glow of your happiness and success.

Human Motivation – Discover The Power of Hypnotherapy

Are you interested in formulating an exercise plan that will assist you to remain trim and help you to get thin? Studies regularly show that there are two basic types of exercise that are both extremely efficient and successful. Of course, it stands to reason that you must be motivated in the first place, and that is why therapeutic hypnosis can help solve your problems.

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If you’re like most people, you are interested in creating an exercise system that will assist you to remain healthy and slim. It may shock you to find out that research studies usually demonstrate that only two core kinds of exercise are useful — which suggests that you can’t just choose any type of exercise to become trim.

Due to the fact that so many people have trouble with the motivation to exercise, performing the most efficient kinds of exercise is imperative, since the less time you spend exercising – and the less time you waste on low efficiency exercise – the more likely it is that you will persist in your exercise routine and therefore achieve your personal weight and strength target.

Our first type of exercise which has been regularly proven to aid people to lose weight and get trim is progressive resistance. In brief, progressive resistance is one type of strength training. It functions by progressively ramping up the pounds lifted, the number of sets, and number of repetitions performed. As a result, your muscles are never strained or subjected to damage – instead, they slowly and steadily strengthen without any setbacks.

Our second type of exercise that has been scientifically studied is cardiovascular training. This is any type of exercise that gets the heart rate up to 60 – 85 percent of its maximum rate. Some kinds of cardio training may involve jogging, jumping rope, aerobics, or treadmill, among other types of exercise, but it is your choice.

Although progressive resistance and cardio training by themselves have been found to be very efficient forms of exercise, scientists now know that performing both of these types of exercise is the best bet for success. If you combine both progressive resistance and cardio training, you will increase the strength of your muscle groups and increase overall endurance. According to a recent scientific study, exercisers who used both cardio and progressive resistance during a two month time period lost 45 percent more weight than exercisers who did cardio training or progressive resistance alone.

Just as important as the type of exercise you perform is, the way in which you exercise is also important. It probably will be unsurprising that being consistent is the name of the game. Exercising inconsistently may strain your muscles and will probably not aid you to build strength and endurance. In addition, it is unlikely to improve your whole-body health. According to most scientists, the best regime is to exercise for forty minutes to an hour three to five times per week.

Unfortunately, it turns out that for a significantly sized subset of the population, getting sufficient exercise is not as easy as attending the health club a few times every week or listening to what scientists claim. For this group of people, the motivation to exercise is the primary issue – this group of people simply doesn’t have the motivation to go to the gym. Actually, they might resist any and all exercise, to the point of severe anxiety.

Nobody knows what percentage of the population suffers from problems with the motivation to exercise, but scientists say that up to 20 to 40 percent of people claim that they “hate” or “dread” exercise. An even larger percentage of people might have more mild problems with the motivation to exercise, finding that even though it is simple enough to commit themselves to an exercise regime for a week or two, motivation eventually degrades, leaving them where they were initially – unhealthy and heavy.

If you are one of these people who struggles with the motivation to exercise, the good news is that there are some easy strategies to deal with the struggle. In a recent research study, volunteers who needed to start an exercise program were provided with a brief learning program that aided them to decide on the right kinds of exercise, were provided with a therapist who specialized in exercise motivation, and were given a brief course in hypnosis. After six months, they were asked to evaluate their progress. It turns out that over 85 percent of the participants had adhered to an exercise program throughout the whole six months. Even better, they generally lost an average of fifteen more pounds than the control group.

If you have an interest in this study, it might make sense to look into locating a motivational therapist, habit control therapist, or therapist who deals with hypnotherapy. These therapists are provided with special training in helping people to transcend anxieties, build the motivation to exercise, and reinforce the creation of good habits. One more choice for exercise motivation is self-hypnosis – which is a simple and inexpensive process that often helps people take control of their own inborn abilities to be motivated.

Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are risk-free ways of increasing motivation that have been proven to provide success in the case of exercise motivation. Hypnosis works by using hypnotic relaxation to enhance the powers of the unconscious mind to influence the modification of behavior and habit development. Hypnotherapy is a good choice for the exercise adverse because it can help increase the drive to get trim and lose weight easily and effectively.

Need Some Tips To KEEP The Weight Off Once You Lose It?

Are you tired of the yo yo effect? These simple 5 steps can help you KEEP the weight off once you do lose it

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Why do some dieters suffer the endless frustration of losing and then gaining weight again and again, while others lose weight and keep it off forever?

And we know you don’t want to be the latter group?

Here are 5 very simple tips successful dieters implement – and you can easily adapt these good habits yourself.

1.) You know that old conventional wisdom that goes “The scale doesn’t matter when you’re dieting”? For a long time experts scorned the idea of frequent weigh ins, pointing out that the scale can be inaccurate because of fluctuations caused by water weight. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. So if you’re exercising you may be gaining muscle and that will throw the scale off.

However, it turns out that weighing yourself every day is actually an excellent motivator for dieters. A study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that dieters who weighed themselves every day lost the most weight, and kept it off more successfully, compared to a group of dieters who did not weigh themselves regularly.

2.) Keep a log of everything you eat. When you log everything you eat you will feel MUCH more guilty when you cheat because you have to see it and read it.

3.) Do at least 1 15 minute activity everyday. ANYTHING. Walk your dog, go jogging, do tae bo. Most of us work at desks and sit at home all day – then do it at least three times a week. You will lose weight quicker and this is one of the big contributors of keeping the weight off.

4.) Plan ahead. If you are going out to dinner with friends or to a holiday office party or even to the movies, what are you going to do when hunger pangs hit? Eat something before you go and decide BEFORE you get to the party or movies.

5.) Schedule the occasional indulgence. Most weight loss experts suggest and encourage a cheating day. When you get to eat some pizza, brownie or some ice cream at some time in the week your chances of ditching your plan is much less likely. This can also be a day when you throw in some more activity.

Lose Weight Naturally Through Correct Diet

For those of you out there who believe that you can only lose weight through fasting, you cannot be more wrong! Facts have shown that it is not how much you eat but actually what you eat that results in weight gain in most people. If you decide to eat correctly, you will surely be eating your way to weight loss naturally.

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In the developed world today, a whole lot of people seem to be struggling with a particular challenge common to them all and that is the issue of how to lose weight so as to live a healthier life. In the same vein, a good number of the people concerned tend to believe that the only way to lose that excess fat is by starving themselves or fasting. Nothing can be further than the truth in this case. It has been proven by the experts that one can achieve weight loss naturally through correct dieting.

In order to lose weight naturally, the main thing one has to keep in mind and practice is to eat wisely, take enough water and do some regular exercise. This combination of actions will surely help you get rid of that unwanted fat as well as give you a fitter and sexier physique.

It is pertinent at this stage to note that when I talk of losing weight naturally through correct dieting, I am not talking about some very strict diet but simple ones that can be found in some cook books such as the Metabolic Cooking. I am also not talking about a particular diet for the whole day but an intelligent mix of recommended diets that will end up giving you a healthier body through weight loss.

I suppose that at this stage some of you out will want to know exactly how to eat wise and reap the benefits of losing weight naturally in the shortest possible time. It is not rocket science but simply doing what is right as already suggested. For an example, the diet experts claim that our ability to shed fats is eighty percent correct dieting and twenty percent how much exercise we give to our body. This also means that you need to steer clear of that attractive and sweet junk foodstuff you have been destroying your system with only to go back to the gym to try to burn the fat you got from wrong dieting practice.

Another important aspect of correct dieting is the issue of the water intake level. It is a fact that taking a good amount of water on a daily basis helps in ensuring a clean body system. As a matter of fact, the experts have made it abundantly clear that in order to keep our body system in a clean condition we need to take as much as sixty ounces of water daily. This is much better than the sugary drinks that many people use to replace water in their diet. It is recommended by medical experts that every adult should drink at least eight glasses of water in order to enjoy a healthier life devoid of obesity.

In summary therefore, anyone who wishes to enjoy the benefits weight loss simply needs to combine a correct diet with a good water intake and do some exercise. That also means such a person needs to as well avoid taking junk food and replace that with the consumption of lots of fruit and vegetables. When fruits are added to your meals, it is easier for you to ward off the cravings for sweet since you are ingesting natural sugar instead of the artificial one. You are advised to take fruits such as oranges and or apples in between your meals as a means of eating your way to weight loss and good health.

Five Ways to Lose Weight by Reducing Stress

You can begin to lose weight by reducing your stress level. Here’s how!

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There may be many reasons why you engage in the behavior of overeating. Overeating helps some people gain a sense of control over their lives. Other people overeat when they are stressed or upset. Think about the times that you have had a binge eating session? What was the motivation behind it? Do you turn to food when you are upset or have a stressful day? Do you find a sense of comfort in the food that you eat? If stress is a major factor in your eating habits, finding ways to help reduce stress can help you lose weight.

1. Find a Support System

Having people that you can rely on is a great way to start reducing stress. Call on your friends or family when you are in a stressful situation. They can be a great source of advice or just a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes going out with work friends after a long stressful day can work wonders to melt the stress that you feel. We all need to rely on our friends and family at some point. Being able to talk about your stress is a health alternative to overeating.

2. Post Positive Mantras

Think about the negative comments you make about yourself when you are feeling stressed. Most people struggle with negative self-talk at sometime in their lives. Begin to challenge your old ways of thinking. Replace those old thoughts with positive thoughts that will help you push through stressful times. If a long stressful day at work leaves you thinking that you are “no good at my job”, change your thoughts. Think about how hard you worked today. You put in your all and achieved a goal you had set. Whatever your new thoughts are going to be, post them around your house. This will help you stay focused on them even when you are headed for a stress out moment. Thinking positively can help curb overeating.

3. Find Time to Relax

It is important that you take a few minutes everyday for relaxtion. There are many different things you can do in order to relax. If you had a busy day at work and spent the evening running errands, take a long soak in a tub. If you find yourself working late one night, close your office door and read a chapter in a book. On the weekends, go for a walk around a nature trail. The activity can last five minutes or five hours; the important thing is to take some time to relax.

4. Meditate or Journal

Another great way to reduce stress is to be alone with your thoughts. This can help you sort out what is going on in your life in a healthy way. One way to do this is to meditate. Another way is to write in a journal. Writing in a journal is a great way to begin organizing your thoughts about the stresses in your life. Dealing with your stress in this productive way makes it less likely that you will overeat.

5. Listen to Your Body

Stop beating yourself up for overeating. Move forward into a new way of thinking about eating and food. By listening to your body, you will learn when your body is telling you it is full or hungry. Know the signals that your body gives off in order to begin recognizing the difference between hunger and emotional eating. You can pull through this struggle and be on your way towards a natural weight loss.